King of Swords
by Karma Chameleon
Summary: Post Series. Francine's espionage abilities lead her to learn something that she shouldn't know. WIP.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings**: deals with mature subject matter

**Summary**: Francine is worried about Amanda

**Disclaimer**: Scarecrow and Mrs. King doesn't belong to me. It, and the characters, belong to people who aren't me.

_Terminus et non terminus_

"Amanda!" Francine grabbed her colleague by the elbow as they passed each other in the hallway, and turned her artfully in the other direction. "We need to talk."

"What is it?" Amanda seemed impatient and even slightly nervous.

"Not here," Francine answered. In spite of her years of experience in covert operations and conflict negotiation, her heart was beating in double-time. This was not a conversation she'd ever thought she'd have. "Let's go to lunch."

"Are you going to give me a hint at least?" Amanda asked, stiffening.

"It's personal," Francine answered, shortly.

"Oh . . ." Amanda relaxed slightly and she let out a puff of air. "Okay.

They'd regarded each other silently, skeptically, making little more than small talk while the waitress took their drink and then lunch orders.

Francine waited until after the salads had been served to broach the subject foremost on her mind.

"I was out in Rockville yesterday . . ." she started, watching Amanda carefully for any reaction. When none was forthcoming, she continued. "Up at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters – right off Wisconsin Avenue."

Amanda raised her eyebrows as she swallowed a bite of salad, but said nothing.

"You know they're right across the street from a Planned Parenthood Clinic," Francine noted, and then added, "I saw you there yesterday."

"I think you're mistaken," Amanda answered – emotionless – and took another bite of salad.

"No," Francine countered, deliberately and taking a deep breath to steel herself. "I saw you; I saw your car."

Her blue eyes continued to drill into Amanda's brown ones, trying to make a connection that Amanda seemed just as eager to avoid. Certain that she had her attention, determined not to allow her to duck away, Francine asked, "What were you doing there?"

"I don't have to answer that," Amanda stated and drew her lips into a hard, thin line.

"No," Francine said, drawing on the same inner calm that she relied on during a stand-off, and yet letting enough of it go that her discomfort was evident. Amanda would know if she was being handled, and that would only make things worse. "No," she confirmed, "but have you talked to Lee?"

"Francine, I'm not going to talk to you about this!" Amanda pulled a $20 bill from her wallet and dropped it on the table. "And I'd appreciate if you didn't bring it up again."

As she watched Amanda walk away, Francine felt as though she might cry. She'd never known Amanda to be so detached and cruel. She was also convinced that Lee didn't know what Amanda had done, and feared the discovery would kill him a little bit inside.

She had traded in a lot of favors to get where she was now – entering an ID code for an agent that was hired today, by a human resources employee that had retired a week ago, but who's deactivation paperwork hadn't yet been processed. Any further investigation would reveal that this agent's birth certificate belonged to a baby boy who'd died in a car accident fifty years ago.

Wearing gloves and a red wig, Francine was, essentially committing espionage within her own building, and she was leaving no more trail than a ghost.

Moving quickly, she traversed the interior of Doctor Kelford's office and withdrew a lock pick kit from her back pocket and unlocked the drawer labeled "K."

She knew Amanda's quarterly blood test had taken place two weeks ago. She told herself it was more than idle curiosity that was driving her to do what she as now doing. This could concern the emotional stability of two of the Agency's most valuable operatives.

Thus, both her hands and her conscience were steady as she pulled Amanda's folder and reviewed the test results – confirming that as of two weeks ago, Amanda King was pregnant.

"Damn!" she swore and closed the folder. She'd been hoping she was wrong.

"Billy," Francine closed the door behind her, and sat down in front of her boss' desk.

"If I knew something that might impact a partnership. . ."

"Hypothetically?" Billy asked. They both knew it wasn't, but plausible deniability was paramount in their profession.

"Hypothetically," Francine confirmed, and then asked, "What duty would I have to disclose?"

Billy templed his fingers, pausing. "If it were, hypothetically, something along the lines of an intimate relationship between a senior agent and his subordinate, I'd tell you to leave it alone."

"And if it were something else?" Francine swallowed hard, her nerves again threatening to get the better of her. She'd already opened the door, however, she had no choice but to go through it. "Something like . . . that subordinate having an abortion."

"I'd say you'd better be damned sure you have all the facts before you come forward with an accusation like that." Billy looked as though he'd been punched.

"I saw Amanda walking out of a Planned Parenthood clinic the other day." The words were out of Francine's mouth before she realized she was speaking them. "And her latest blood work with Doc Kelford indicated she was pregnant."

"Agent Desmond!" Billy's words were clipped, severe. "Do you know what you're alleging?"

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "I do," she whispered.

"No," he countered again with an icy calm, "I don't think you do."

"Billy . . ." Francine protested.

"Agent Desmond." Billy stood and placed his hands—palms down—on the desk, leaning imperially over her. "I appreciate your concerns and will take this issue under advisement. You're excused."

"Billy . . ." she protested again.

"Francine," he called back to her, this time a little more gently. "Do me a favor and stay out of this, okay?"

She nodded, licking her lips nervously. She wasn't sure she could keep this news from one of the few people she considered a friend.

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

_Two Weeks Earlier_

Amanda was pacing in the Q Bureau, a worry line etched deep between her brows, when Lee entered.

"Hi," she greeted him before he even had a chance to sit down. "We gotta problem."

"Oh?" He slipped out of his jacket and sat. "What is it?"

She bit her lips and worked her mouth for a moment before saying, "People's Drug sold you some defective goods."

At his obvious confusion she clarified, "I had my physical with Doc Kelford yesterday. I'm pregnant."

Lee's face lit as he jumped from his chair, ready to embrace her. "Amanda that's . . ." he paused. "You're not happy."

"I am." She forced a smile. "It's just . . . unexpected . . . I mean, I'm finally starting to make a name for myself – a career at The Agency – and Phillip's in high school and Jamie's not that far behind . . . I hadn't planned on . . . especially not when . . ." She looked up at him, her face a mixture of emotions. "And all I'm thinking about is myself, here . . . of course, you'd be happy about this. Your first baby!"

"I am," he said and kissed her, "_very _happy." Taking her by the hand, he led her to the divan. "But we're a team, right?" Off her silent nod, he smiled again, supportively. "So we'll figure out this out together."

She smiled with a little bit more certainty this time, happy for the moment to surrender just a little bit of control. "Who else knows?" he asked after a moment.

"Doc Kelford," she answered. "He said that he only had to pass on results that would render me unfit for field duty, and that I wasn't so far along to be unfit and that when I was, it would be obvious to everyone and that anything that happened between now and then was none of his business."

A shadow crossed Lee's face at the meaning buried under the doctor's words. "I see, that's good, I guess."

Oblivious to the shift in his mood, Amanda continued, "He gave me the name of a clinic up in Rockville – said they'd helped other female agents . . ." After a beat she added, "of course I'd never . . ."

"Of course --" Lee echoed. "Y'know, there's a reason I never trusted either him or Pfaff as far as I could throw them."

Without warning, she began to cry – hormones and months of accumulated stress taking their toll on her reserve of calm and self control – and she wiped the tears angrily away. "Lee," she aired his name like a lifeline hoping that he'd grab it and draw her back in. "Lee," she repeated.

He softened, wrapping an arm around her. "We'll work this out."

_Present_

Amanda was pacing in the Q Bureau, a worry line etched between her brows when Lee entered.

"Hi!" she greeted him immediately. "Francine knows."

"Oh!" he said, blankly. "How much."

"She saw me at the clinic the other day, and today Billy called to let me know that she'd been in his office. She got a copy of my medical record."

"How did . . ." Lee began and then stopped. "Never mind . . . what'd Billy say?"

"To tell you to use your discretion . . ." Amanda relayed, "but that may not be so easy. She was pretty upset at lunch."

"You had lunch with Francine?"

Amanda nodded. "Yesterday. I woulda told you earlier but you were out when I got back, and . . ." she let the thought trail off. He was as aware as she of how very little they saw of each other. "I told her it was none of her business."

Lee grimaced. "You didn't."

She shrugged. "It's not."

"Francine doesn't like being shut out. Couldn't you have denied it or something."

"I tried that," she answered in frustration. "She knows she saw me."

He sighed. "This isn't likely to get taken care of quickly; is it?"

She shook her head. "I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, and then the operation should take place next week."

"I still wish you would reconsider. I'm sure we can find another way . . ."

"No." She shook her head. "Billy's right. I should see this through."

She'd sat down on the edge of his desk and he let his fingers drift to the outside of her thigh. "If anything were to happen as a result. . ."

"It won't!" she cut him short. "It'll all be done next week, and we can get back to spending the rest of our lives together."

_TBC_


End file.
